This article appears in Issue 11 of the Reckonings Newsletter.
Read the full newsletter here.
Reckonings Community Network Series: Archives Fellowship Hour: Collecting Community and Family Stories
Date: Mon November 9, 2026
Time: 6:00 – 8:00pm
Location: Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building, 2300 Washington St
Are you the family record keeper, the one that holds the memory of the family, the one who knows the family recipes, or carries forward a skill passed down through generations of your family or chosen family? And/or are you thinking about preserving memories together with members of older or younger generations? This workshop invites you to explore such roles.
Participants are encouraged to bring one small meaningful object: for example, a photograph, a document, or a recipe with meaning for their family/chosen family. Together we’ll use these objects as starting points for conversation and practice:
- What does our family/community already have?
- What rituals shape our family’s life?
- How do we preserve family memory through objects and their stories?
- How do we preserve memory through recorded conversation?Who decides what gets kept?